We spent all of last Sunday outside preparing our kitchen garden. Seeing as it was Mother's Day, my girls were more than happy to help. I'm so lucky.

You may remember that we built this garden last Spring and spent a whole Summer growing veggies. It was definitely a great learning experience that the whole family enjoyed. Unfortunately, it didn't do much to encourage our pre-schooler to eat her veggies, but perhaps this year...{yeah, right}

After the growing season last year, we knew we needed to incorporate a much more substantial support system for the tomatoes and beans. I think by the end of last Summer, we had a series of bamboo stakes that were strung up to the fence...it wasn't exactly the look I was going for.

This year, we found these very affordable trellises at Lowes. There's just something about cedar in a garden...the smell, the rustic quality...I love it. Speaking of Lowes, have you tried out their pick up service? So good. Order online and it's ready to be picked up at Customer Service in 20 minutes. Perfection.

Last year we filled this pot with mint and chives. At the end of the season, I put it in the garage for the Winter. It took less than a week to come right back to life. Mint is practically indistructable. Always amazes me.

We planted some lettuce early in the season and it's just starting to come out. Can't wait for fresh lettuce from the garden. Last year, I remember proudly serving a fresh salad to a guest only to discover a tiny worm in it. And that was after at least 3 washes and several trips through the salad spinner. Needless to say, not my finest moment.

This year we're growing:

three types of lettuce

radishes

beets

two types of tomatoes

green beans

sugar snap peas

zucchini

yellow summer squash

eggplant

cucumber

red peppers

hot peppers

herbs

Fingers crossed, we'll be enjoying the fruits of our labor all Summer.